Additional to the traditional land use maps 3D visualisation could provide valuable information for applications in the field of spatial planning, related to ecological and agricultural policy issues. Maps of future land use do not always reveal the appearance of the physical environment (the perceived landscape) as a result of land use changes. This means that 3D visualisations might shed light on other aspects of changed land use, such as expected differences in height or densities of new volume objects, or the compatibility of these changes with particular characteristics of the landscape or urban built environment. The Land Use Scanner model was applied for the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency's 'Sustainability Outlook' to explore land use changes, followed by GIS analyses to asses both the development of nature areas and the degree of urbanisation within protected national landscapes. Since it was felt that 3D visualisation could complement the resulting land use maps, the land use model output was coupled to 3D visualisation software in two different ways: 1) through Studio Max software in combination with iconic representation of the concerned land use types and 2) through 3D components of GIS software. However, the use of these techniques on a national scale level for the generation of semi-realistic 3D animations raised a number of conceptual and technical problems. These could be partly ascribed to the particular format and of the Land Use Scanner output. This paper discusses the methods and techniques which have been used to couple the output of the land use model to 3D software, the results of both approaches, and possible solutions for these problems.